


Maybe If I Leave Tonight I Won't Come Back

by orphan_account



Series: The Only Thing That Matters [5]
Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe- Modern Setting - Freeform, Angst, Happy Ending, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-16
Updated: 2015-10-16
Packaged: 2018-04-26 16:44:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5012170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bran and Jojen had been together longer than Bran even knew.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Maybe I Leave Tonight I Won't Come Back

Bran and Jojen had been together longer than Bran even knew. This was true in the sense that they had pretty much began dating without even realizing it. They’d been through a million things together from toilet training, to learning how to ride a bike, to high school orientation, to nervous first kisses, to even more nervous first times… Bran and Jojen had seen it all, and they’d seen it together.

So Bran liked to believe that he knew his boyfriend rather well, could read them with ease. So the simple gesture of Jojen knocking on Bran’s bedroom door rather than just letting himself in as usual set Bran right on edge. Something was wrong.

This sense of fear wasn’t lessened by Jojen’s behaviour, either. He came into the room quietly and sat down on the bed. He gestured for Bran to join him, which he did. Bran noticed Jojen’s shaking hands and the way he was tapping his foot on the floor at an uneven rhythm, a pattern Bran didn’t recognize or enjoy. The pattern spoke of nervousness and anxiety, something that radiated off Bran more than it ever had Jojen. The taller and older boy had always managed to seem cool and collected during any situation, was always able to put Bran at ease. (And even when he wasn’t sure what to say or do, just his presence made things better.)

“I have something to say.” Jojen said, wincing at himself. His eyes hadn’t left his lap and his cheeks were red. Bran look at him, searching for some sort of answer to what was going on. He’d never seen Jojen like this, there’s never been a point where Bran couldn’t tell almost exactly what his boyfriend was thinking or feeling. Now, however, he felt completely in the dark. Something was going on with Jojen and he couldn’t tell what.

In fact, looking back, something had been different with Jojen for weeks now. He’d been distant, acting odd, secretive. Bran felt a tinge of panic settling in his chest and wished Jojen would just start talking.

When he got his wish granted, Bran regretted ever making a wish. “So we’ve been together for a long time now, like a really long time. And you should know that being with you has been some of the best times of my life, Bran…”

Bran found himself tuning out slightly. He’d seen enough of Sansa’s chick flicks to know what was happening. A long confession of how much they loved you followed by a heart crushing break up.

“No.” Bran said, pushing himself away from the bed. Jojen looked up at him with wide eyes. “No, Jojen, no. You can’t.”

“I- what?” Jojen asked, eyes going foggy with confusion. Bran felt his own eyes going foggy with his tears.

“You can’t break up with me, you can’t.” Bran shook his head passionately, wiping angrily at his tears. He hated showing weakness, even around Jojen. “That’s not fair. I need you.”

“I wasn’t-” Jojen said, his eyes going wide. He stood up too, moving towards Bran. Bran just ripped himself away and backed into the corner.

“Don’t lie to me!” Bran snapped, narrowing his eyes. “I know what you’re doing, I’ve seen it a million times. You’re going to tell about all how much you love me, how amazing I am and how happy you are, then you’re going to end things and hope your little speech leaves us on a good note!”

Jojen just stared, his face pale and body shaking. Bran bit his lip hard enough to draw the taste of blood into his mouth and shook his head again. “It’s not. You’re not breaking up with me, Jojen, because I’m breaking up with you.”

“You’re- what?” Jojen asked, tears coming to his eyes. The tears sent a wave of confusion through Bran. Why would Jojen be crying? He was getting what he wanted.

“I’m breaking up with you so that you can’t get the satisfaction of breaking up with me.” Bran hoped he sounded tough but the quiver of tears his voice still broke through. Wincing at himself, Bran turned to face his window so he wouldn’t have to watch Jojen leave his room for the last time.

“Is that what you want?” Jojen asked, his voice eerily calm. “To break up?”

Tears poured down Bran’s face and he swallowed his pride, he had to be strong. He could do this. “Yes.”

There was a long moment of silence, in which Bran held his breath to hopes of keeping the sobs in. When Jojen spoke, Bran was sure he’d never heard a person sound so broken.

“Well. I’m glad you told me that before I did what I was going to do. Saves me some embarrassment.” There was a slight thump as though Jojen sent something down on Bran’s dresser before slamming his bedroom door shut. Bran listened to his footsteps going loudly down the stairs and out the front door. From his spot, he watched Jojen cross his yard to his own house and pull down the blinds that look into Bran’s window.

Only then did Bran turn around and see the little leather box sitting on his dresser that certainly hadn’t been there before. He walked over slowly, his stomach dropping to knees. He picked it up slowly and just held it in his hands, terrified to even open it. Only when he did open it and saw the shining sliver ring nestled inside did Bran allow himself to be taken over by the gut wrenching sobs that left him nearly hoarse. He sat on his bedroom floor, sobbing, until the sun of the next morning came up from behind the darkness of night and Bran Stark was left to wonder what the hell he was going to do.


	2. And I Still Love the Way You Hurt Me [It's Irresistible]

Bran had been miserable for days. Barely leaving his room, barely eating. It seemed to most of the Stark family as thought he’d simply given up the will to live. To make matters even more suspicious, Jojen hadn’t been over in a very long time. Rickon mentioned that Jojen had seemed upset when he’d left the house last, and this put the entire family on edge. Jojen Reed was known to be Bran’s rock (while Bran tried not to show his weaknesses, they were there.) and if something happened between them nobody really knew how Bran would handle it. Probably just like this.

The family tried to give Bran his space, let him come to them when he was ready but it was close to a week of silence and it hurt them watch Bran hurting like this. Robb let himself into Bran’s room- knowing that his brother wouldn’t answer to any knocking- and stared. Bran’s room was messier than Robb had ever seen it before, clothes thrown everywhere, plates of barely touched food sitting on every surface.

Bran himself was a mess, too. Wearing an oversized sweater that belonged to Jojen and his favourite pair of red boxers- a gift from Jojen- Bran looked as though he hadn’t showered all week, his overgrown brown hair greasy and matted. Robb sighed sadly and stepped closer to where his brother was standing, seemingly staring at nothing out the window.

Only when Robb got closer did he realize that Bran was looking at Jojen’s window- which had it’s blinds sealed shut.

“What happened?” Robb asked him in a hushed whisper.

Bran had been expecting somebody to come ask him what was wrong. In fact, he’d expected it long before this. He’d had his whole reply all worked up, he’d even practised. What he hadn’t practised was bursting into tears the second he opened his mouth and launching himself in Robb’s arms. Which was exactly what he did.

Robb wrapped his arms around Bran, his face losing colour with his shock. Despite being a highly emotional person, Bran wasn’t the type to show emotion so quickly. He usually tried to play everything off as a joke and pretend to be fine before he let anybody in.

“I’m stupid. I’m stupid and ruined everything!” Bran sobbed into Robb’s chest, clenching at his shirt. “Jojen was going to propose- and I was stupid- and I broke up with him- and I didn’t know- and he won’t _talk_ to me!”

Robb held Bran tighter, disbelief filling his body. He wasn’t so much surprised that Jojen had planned to propose. Yes, they were young but he’d never seen two people so in love as his brother and Jojen. Which just made it so much more shocking that Bran had ended things.

“Why did you break up with him?” Robb asked, trying to keep his voice soft and caring and not let the confusion come through.

Bran cried harder for a moment, his legs giving on beneath him so that Robb was forced to hold him up. Finally he was able to hiccup out an answer. “Stupid. Thought he- thought he was going to b-b-break up with me so I did it before h-h-he could.”

Robb sighed and ran his hand through Bran’s hair (wincing the dirty feeling). “It’s okay, explain this to Jojen. He loves you, he’ll understand.”

“No.” Bran coughed. “He _did_ love me but I ruined it. I br-br-broke up with him! He _hates_ me!”

Robb doubted that Jojen Reed could ever hate Bran. “Bran, you and Jojen have been through worse than this. He was going to _propose._ Do you think he could go from loving you enough to marry you to hating you so quickly?”

xxx

“I hate him.” Jojen mumbled into his pillow, refusing to cry again. Meera sat on the edge of his bed, rubbing his back. Jojen had been a mess for days, spontaneously bursting into tears for no reason. She finally managed to get the information out of him, and was shocked at the story. How could those two boys be such idiots?

“You don’t hate him. You love him.” Meera said slowly, shaking her head. She just couldn’t believe they’d gone so long without sorting this out.

“I hate him and I love him. It’s possible.” Jojen muttered, sounding more like the brother that she’d been missing lately. “He’s an idiot.”

“Yes.” Meera agreed, knowing full well that she couldn’t argue that fact. “ But Jojen, you said yourself he thought you were breaking up with him and that’s why he did it. So it’s not like he wanted to break up with you, he was trying to protect himself.”

Jojen rolled over, eyes red and puffy. “Yeah. But he also thought so little of me that he thought I would break up with him. And instead of fighting for me, he just ended things. Clearly it doesn’t mean that much to him.”

Meera actually found tears springing into her own eyes. She could completely see where Jojen was coming from but she’s also been talking to Arya. Bran was just as broken over this and maybe even more so because of the blame he’d placed on himself.  Rightfully placed blame, but it still hurt Meera to know that these two were so miserable when they could just be happy together. They deserved to be happy together.

“Jojen, I know this hurts Bran, too. And he’d take you back if you just-” Meera cut off abruptly at death glare her brother sent her.

“Take me back? Why on Earth should I go crawling back to Bran? He broke up with me!” Jojen pushed himself up from the bed and moved away from his sister, who’d only been trying to help.

“Jojen, Bran is blaming himself for this!” Meera pleaded to him. “He won’t come to you because he’ll be too afraid you’ll regret him! You’ve got to understand, Jojen, please-”. Jojen was shaking his head before Meera was even close to finished so she just stopped speaking and waiting for this move.

Jojen stared at his closed blinds for a long time before speaking. “If he wants us bad enough, he’ll fight for it. I’m done being the only person who tries.”

“Jojen, he loves you.” Meera said, the tears starting to come from her eyes. She didn’t even know why she was so sad but it felt like her heart was being ripped out of her chest.

Jojen looked at her for a long time without speaking, noticing the tears, noticing the way she was biting her lips and just how upset she seemed. But he wasn’t going to cater to her wants this time, this had nothing to do with her. “Then maybe he’ll just have to prove that. Get out of here, Meera.”

Meera stood on the other side of Jojen’s room once he slammed it shut on her, and pulled out her phone. She composed a quick text to Arya and hit send before going downstairs to get herself some ice cream.

_We have to do something. Fast._


	3. No One Can Press the Rewind Button Now [So Put Your Head in your Hands and Just Breathe]

Bran stood at his window, watching Jojen watch the ground. Sitting cross legged on his front lawn, his eyes were drawn to a piece of grass and he hadn’t moved in a good fifteen minutes. There was this little ball of courage inside of Bran and he could feel it growing with every passing second. This was it, this was the moment where he’d go talk to Jojen. This was the moment he’d clear the air and either make or break the relationship.

 _Clothes._ Bran had to get dressed first, still bundled up in Jojen’s sweater and a pair of boxers. He forced himself into a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, glancing out his window all the while to make sure Jojen didn’t leave. He didn’t.

 

Bran ran from the house, down his front way and over to where Jojen was sitting. The boy Bran loved glanced up when the shadow passed over him, and the neutral expression he wore quickly darkened.

“Go away.” Jojen said, turning back to the grass, but his voice held no menace. He didn’t even sound sad anymore, just tired. Bran’s heart smashed up against his chest.

“Jojen, we have to talk.”  Bran said, wondering if he should sit down. It didn’t seem wise to do so, he knew they both needed the distance between them. Body language spoke wonders, and the tightness in Jojen’s shoulders screamed at Bran. _Stupid, stupid, stupid._

“And what do you want to bloody talk about, Bran Flakes?” Jojen practically spat the words at Bran and the tone he used when he said the old nickname made Bran flinch. It had once been a phrase said with love and adoration but now… it sounded as though Jojen was mocking him. Mocking his mere existence, in fact. And that hurt.

“We have to talk about us.” Bran said, willing his voice to sound strong and sure. He had to fight back the smile when it seemed that it worked.

Jojen scoffed at him, shaking his head all the while. “There is no _us,_ Bran. You decided that.”

Bran didn’t think his heart could break any more than it already was, but hearing the coldness in Jojen’s voice proved him wrong. Jojen hated him, Robb had been wrong. “You’re wrong. They was an _us_ before we even knew it, Jojen. We can’t throw it away over something like this!”

“Something like this?” Jojen whipped back around, his grip in the grass tightening. “You mean you breaking up with me when I was trying to propose to you? Is that the something you’re talking about, Brandon?”

Bran winced, he’d already known that he’d worded that badly. There was pure, unkempt anger behind Jojen’s greens eyes and Bran was afraid he might start crying again.

“You’re talking about it as though it was all one big misunderstanding.” Jojen continued, his shoulders tense and hands gripping the ground so tightly his knuckles had turned white. “As though it was something simple, easy to fix.”

“It is a misunderstanding.” Bran replied, his voice wavering. He starting smacking his hand against his thigh nervously. “I didn’t know you were going to-”

“Propose? I think those things are supposed to be a surprise, Brandon.” Jojen scoffed again, his voice nastier and more hateful than Bran had ever heard it sound before. Jojen didn’t even use this sort of tone towards Joffrey Baratheon… and that hurt more than anything so far. “You broke up with me because you were so damn insecure in our relationship you didn’t even hesitate in thinking I would dump you. That’s not very good grounds to be on.”

“Why are you being like this?” Bran practically growled, feeling anger settling in the pit of  his stomach. “I’m trying to apologize to you and you’re being a complete prick!”

Jojen was on his feet before Bran could even blink, getting all up in Bran’s face. “Apologize? You aren’t apologizing, Bran, you never apologize. You just twist the situation around until I feel like I’m the bad guy so that _you_ can forgive _me_. But not this time, this is on you.”

Jojen turned and starting stomping off towards his house while Bran felt a tightness in his chest like never before.

“What do you want from me Jojen!?!” Bran called after him, balling his hands into fists. Jojen stopped where he was standing, and didn’t move for a long pause filled with tense silence and Bran holding his breath. When Jojen finally did turn around, his eyes were sad and his face was paler than Bran had ever seen it. Bran wanted to run towards him, kiss him all over his face. _I love you, I love you, and I love you. I’ll never stop saying it now. I love you, Jojen Reed._

“I want you to fight for me.”


	4. Give Me Something to Believe [Because I Don't Believe in You Anymore]

The music was loud as Meera ducked behind a large group of people to avoid being seen by her brother. She knew that she shouldn’t be spying but Jojen hadn’t really given her any other choice. Jojen had barely spoken to her at all since their argument in his bedroom, despite her prolonging her stay at home. Meera was going to lose her job if she kept taking her time off but all that mattered right now was Jojen. She could get another job but she’d never get another brother if something were to happen.

So she was spying, and yes, she knew that this probably wasn’t the best way to repair her relationship with her brother but in the end it wasn’t _her_ relationship that she was worried about. She sent another text to Arya, begging her to hurry up. They were running out of time, and if the way Jojen had been hanging off some blonde skank in a crop top for the past half hour was any indication, they had even less time than originally planned.

“Hey, sorry!” Arya’s panting voice came from over Meera’s shoulder. “Jon was asking a bunch of questions and we both know he’s shit at keeping secrets.”

Meera huffed out a laugh before tugging Arya downwards out of sight. “Look!” She cried, pointing towards Jojen and the girl. They were standing too close now, bodies touching in nearly everyway possible.

“Ah, shit.” Arya breathed out, tightening her grip on Meera’s shoulder. “What are we going to do? Is Jojen mad enough to cheat on Bran?”

Meera shot Arya a quick glare. “Jojen would never cheat… but by all technicality, Bran and Jojen aren’t together anymore.”

“Doesn’t mean it won’t hurt like fucking hell if Bran finds out.” Arya replied. “It would feel like the worst betrayal imaginable. There’d be no saving their relationship.”

“So what’s your plan then?” Meera snapped, feeling slightly as though Arya was making this whole thing out to be Jojen’s fault.

Arya bit her lip for a moment before grabbing Meera’s hand and dragging her onto the dance floor.

“What are you doing?” Meera gasped as Arya pulled her close and placed her hands on her hips. “Arya!”

“Just dance with me dumbass!” Arya whispered, eyes still boring into Jojen. Meera swallowed hard and let Arya move them to the rhythm of the song.

“Oh my God, he’s going to kiss her!” Arya gasped and Meera felt her touch loosening.

“Arya, wait. Arya, don’t!” Meera shouted as Arya pulled away and pushed through the crowd. Meera rushed after her, fear moving through her at what the daring Stark girl might do. Arya leaned herself up against Jojen, wrapping her arm around his shoulder.

Jojen jumped and glanced at her in surprise. His eyes fell on Meera and then narrowed. She knew full well that she was blushing.

“Hey, Jojen.” Arya spoke, eyes sending daggers towards the blonde girl, who seemed almost physically uncomfortable. “Can I ask you a question?”

“I’m sure me saying no won’t stop you.” Jojen replied with an eye roll. Arya smiled.

“When you almost proposed to my little brother, did you throw away the ring after? Or was your love for him the only thing you threw in the trash?”

Jojen jerked back, pain evident all over his face. Meera’s mouth dropped open. “Arya!!”

Arya smirked, leaning closer. “Or maybe you never loved him at all?”

Jojen glared, Meera painfully aware of the tears brimming in his green eyes.

“I suppose that much is obvious, though, huh? If you ever loved Bran, you wouldn’t be sitting here in a club with some blonde bimbo while my brother is at home being crushed by his misery.”

“Arya, stop it!” Meera snapped, her voice cracking.

Jojen turned to Arya slowly, tears obvious in his eyes. “Why are you trying to hurt me?”

“Family comes first, Jojen.” Arya said slowly, as though spelling out a word for a toddler. “You hurt mine. It’s nothing personal.”

Jojen got up in Arya’s face now, hands clenched. “You Starks are all the same aren’t you? More honour and love for you family than brains. I’m glad to be free of all of you.”

“Jojen-” Arya began, face reddening.

“If you’d take a second to listen to something other than your own pride for once, Arya, you might know what actually happened! You’d know that Bran broke up with me, not the other way around!”

“I know that-” Arya began but Jojen cut her off with a disgusted look.

“Get your head out of your ass, Arya, it’s not a hat.”

If the situation hadn’t seemed so dire, Meera might have smiled proudly at her brother standing up for himself.

xxx

Bran flung his bedroom door open, eyes still foggy from sleep. The loud banging had awoken him, and Bran wasn’t about to pretend he wasn’t irritated. He glared at the person on the other side of the door, eyes still half closed, not even knowing who it was.

Jojen pushed past him, stomping into the room with his fists clenched. Bran watched him move like a ghost of a long lost memory and was left to wonder momentarily if he was still asleep.

“Your bloody sister is the most irritating, pig headed arse that I’ve ever had the displeasure of knowing!” Jojen growled, kicking Bran’s desk.

“Jojen?” Bran asked, rubbing his eyes in confusion. “What’s going on?”

Jojen whipped around, eyes flashing. “Our sweet sisters have taken it upon themselves to stalk me into an early grave.”

“What are you talking about?” Bran asked in frustration, leaning against the wall of his room. Jojen wasn’t making any sense, and Bran’s brain was still a little bit asleep.

Jojen glared at Bran, who shrunk back. He’d never seen him this angry before. His ex-boyfriend turned away and started rummaging through his dresser.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Bran asked, stepping forward. Fear rushed through him.

“Where is it?” Jojen asked, turning to face him. “Where is it?”

Bran’s heart sunk. Jojen couldn’t be talking about what Bran thought he was, could he?

“Tonight your sister asked me what I did with the ring.” Jojen said slowly, pinching the brim of his nose. “Which means she never saw it and doesn’t know it’s here.”

Bran’s eyes widened. _Arya did what?_ “Jojen…”

He turned away from Bran again, tossing articles of Bran’s clothing off his shoulder. “So where is it? What did you do with it, Bran?”

Bran felt so small. “Don’t, Jojen, please. I’m sorry about Arya.”

Jojen froze before turning slowly, eyes wet. “Don’t apologize for her, Bran, it wasn’t your fault. You weren’t there and it had nothing to do with you.” His voice was softer now, and set Bran slightly more at ease. “Where’s the ring Bran?”

Bran moved towards his bed, pulling the small sliver band out from underneath his pillow. Jojen’s eyes widened when Bran handed it to him, tears threatening to spill over.

“You sleep with it under your pillow?” Jojen asked incrediously, twirling the band between his finger and thumb. Bran nodded,  torn between wanting to look away and wanting to stare at Jojen forever.

“Wow.” Jojen breathed out, a contemplating look crossing his face as he closed his fist around the ring.

“Are you taking it back?” Bran asked quietly, scanning Jojen’s face slowly.

Jojen met his gaze, doubt written all over his face. “I- I think I probably should.”

“Please, don’t.” Bran said, shaking his head. “Please don’t take it, Jojen. Please.”

“It’ll be better.” Jojen said, a small smile on his face. “You’ll get closure.”

“I don’ t want closure.” Bran pleaded, eyes dropping to Jojen’s closed fist. “I want you.”

The momentary time of openness was gone as Jojen’s face closed off. His fist tightened more and he looked away from Bran. “Bran, don’t.” He said slowly, staring hard at his feet. “You’re making it harder than it needs to be.”

“You wanted me to fight for you!!” Bran cried in desperation. “You wanted me to fight and now when I try, you tell me to stop! What do you expect me to do?”

“Is this what you think fighting for somebody is?” Jojen asked, his voice still eerily calm. “I came here, Bran. I’m still the only person making an effort! You sit in your room all day mopping and hope that thing will get better without you doing anything!”

“What do you want then?” Bran stepped forward, fighting the urge to reach for Jojen. To touch him, hug him, kiss him. To love him again and never let go. “Tell me and I’ll do it. I swear to the Gods that I’ll do it.”

“You’re smart, Bran.” Jojen said with a small smile, a smile that actually reached his eyes. “I know that if you want to, you’ll think of something. I know you will.”


	5. I'll Tell You Everything You Need to Hear

Bran stood underneath Jojen’s window, staring up. When he’d left his bedroom the clock had told him it was almost midnight but he couldn’t hold in this anymore. After his confrontation of Arya, he’d gotten the story of the club…. of the girl that Jojen might have gone home with if Arya hadn’t pissed him so much. He was forced to accept the fact that he’s losing this battle he didn’t want to be fighting, and he knew that he would never be okay again if he didn’t win. This was the only thing ever worth winning.

The pieces of paper in his hands shook as he stuffed them into his pockets for safe keeping while hoping they wouldn’t get too crumbled. He grabbed hold of the old ivy and tugged, praying it seemed strong enough to hold his weight still. It had been many years since Bran had entered Jojen’s window through climbing- not since they were still crazy teenagers hiding their relationship from their families for fear of rejection (which had been stupid looking back, but Bran could remember the anxiety he’d felt like a knife as though it was only yesterday). He let out a sigh when it did seem strong enough and pulled himself upwards, remembering this climb like an old friend.

So he climbed through the dark, hands shaking and praying silently to any God that was listening that he wouldn’t fall to his death while making his move to win back the man he was in love with.

 

_Tell you’re not leaving and I’ll tell you everything you need to know.  
No, don’t throw it all away._

He knocked quickly on Jojen’s window, sort of hoping he’d be awake. He knew that Jojen had always gone to bed early, even at sleepovers as children he was in bed at a decent time and up at the ass crack of dawn. When they’d first gotten together, Bran had thought it might be a problem but he soon found that he loved waking up to Jojen holding him, eyes sleepy and a smile across his whole face that light him up like the prettiest Christmas lights. Longing ached in Bran’s chest as he knocked again, louder.

Panic rushed through him at the thought of the blonde girl from the club. What if Jojen wasn’t alone? Bran didn’t know if he could handle something like that, fear that he wouldn’t be able to recover from it. He knew all too well that the fall from either his or Jojen’s windows were high enough up to kill a person, and probably wouldn’t hesitate to make the fall again if he lost the only thing that had kept holding on. The thing that had picked him up the first time and put everything back together. Maybe it hadn’t been perfect puzzle making skills, but it was more than Bran would ever have expected. He’d learned long ago that he couldn’t lose Jojen, he couldn’t let this go without a fight.

And now he knew exactly how to fight for it.

_Don’t say my words are just too late_

He knocked loudly and often until Jojen’s sleepy face appeared in the window. He rubbed his eyes and confusion settled over his features. Bran was reminded of the other night when Jojen had appeared in his bedroom in a slightly drunken rage. He supposed he’d probably looked a little bit like that himself.

Jojen shook his head slightly before pushing his window open. “What are you doing here? _How_ did you get up here?”

Bran let out a small laugh that sounded more nervous than anything. “Same way I always did. Surprised those old vines could still hold me.”

“They were always loyal before,” Jojen said slowly, crossing his arms across his heart defensively- as if afraid that Bran would reach inside and steal it. Bran leaned against the window frame, trying not to shiver from the nighttime chill that ran through his body.

“You didn’t answer the first question.” Jojen finally said after moments of silence. Bran blinked, taking a minute to even remember what the question had been. Right, what was he doing here.

“You told me to fight for you…” Bran shrugged and watched pain flickered behind Jojen’s eyes. “So here I am. And if this doesn’t work, I’m giving up because I don’t know know what else to do.”

“Showing up in the window like a bloody horny teenager isn’t-” Jojen started, eyes flashing and Bran groaned, rubbing his face in irritation.

“Will you stop fucking cutting me down before I even get the chance to talk?” Bran snapped. “It’s like you don’t even want me to fight for you! Just you want to pout and play the victim and not solve anything!”

_I don’t wanna be left behind, I’ve been so blind to all that I have broken.  
Can we put this back together?_

 

Jojen glared, making no effort to move or retort. Bran could almost see his words tumbling around in Jojen’s brain, and could even pinpoint the moment when Jojen realized that Bran was a little bit right.

“Are you going to let me in, or are you going to keep being a butt face?” Bran tried to keep some humor in the situation but Jojen didn’t laugh. He DID step aside and gesture for Bran to step inside so he considered that at least a bit of a win.

He climbed through the window and dropped himself down on Jojen’s bed, heart hammering so hard it hurt. He thought of the other times climbed through Jojen’s window… he certainly wouldn’t have ended up on Jojen’s bed alone any of those times. They would be together, they were always together, they were supposed to be together forever. Bran wouldn’t lose that.

Jojen had yet to sit down, just staring at Bran with an odd expression on his face, as though he wasn’t quite sure what to make of the situation. Bran didn’t either, if he was honest. He just knew that this might be his very last chance to fix this.

“Sit down, Jojen.” Bran said quietly, praying Jojen would listen. After only a moment of hesitation, he did. Jojen came over and sat down, keeping a noticeable distance between their bodies. Bran longed to close the space, throw his arms around Jojen and kiss him all over and just let everything be okay.

 

_No more empty promises, they don’t exist.  
Just me out in the open._

 

Bran sighed and reached into his pocket, pulling out the first small piece of paper. It was a drawing, done in crayon. It wasn’t the nicest, and it was obvious that it had been done by a small child. It was almost entirely done in red, Bran smiling as remember how much Jojen had loved the colour when they were younger.

“This is my favourite thing you’ve ever drawn.” Bran said slowly, handing the picture to Jojen. Jojen took it slowly, his face guarded but Bran could see the recognition behind it. He knew this picture, too, how could he not?  Catelyn Stark had left it up on the fridge for nearly five years before Jojen had begged her to take it down.

“Maybe you’re a lot better at drawing now… Well, I mean you are. There’s no maybe about it.” Bran inhaled deeply. If he was already stumbling over his words, this was just going to be embarrassing. But Jojen was watching him with a look of encouragement in his eyes, while the rest of his face remained unchanged. “But it was the first picture you ever drew for me. We were four.”

“I remember.” Jojen said, nodding slightly and smiling down at the picture. It was crumbled, both from being shoved in Bran’s pocket while climbing the wall and from spending many, many years in a box under Bran’s bed. The corners were curved and the blue lines had faded to the point of nearly being invisible now. But Bran knew they’d been there, he knew everything about the picture. It was burned permanently into his brain.

“This is you.” Bran pointed at the shorter of the two stick figures in the picture, this one with yellow circles around his head. “You made yourself smaller because you knew how much I hated being shorter than you.”

Jojen was looking at Bran now, he could feel Jojen’s green eyes boring into his skull but Bran didn’t look up from the picture. He was on a roll now.

“This is where you spilled the chocolate milk on it after it was finished.” Bran pointed at the small brown stain that took up a quarter of the page. “You cried for like, twenty minutes after but I remember it felt like hours. I didn’t know what to do to help you. My mom figured it out though, when she fished it out of the garbage and put it up on the fridge. She told you to never give up on your art, remember?”

Bran did turn to look at Jojen now, the boy with a look on his face that Bran couldn’t read. Jojen nodded when he seemed to notice that Bran was waiting for acknowledgement. “Yeah. I also remember that I didn’t drink chocolate milk for almost two years after that. I boycotted it for ruining my picture.”

“You told everybody you were allergic when they asked why you didn’t like milk, but Meera ratted you out.” Bran let out a small laugh at the forgotten memory. “Anyways, it didn’t ruin the picture. Nothing could ever ruin a picture of yours.”

He put the picture aside and reached for his pocket again.

 

_I know this will take time. Will you give me on more chance to make it right?_

He pulled out a small pink piece of paper and unfolded it. “Letter of Participation from the football tournament in third grade.” He said, smiling up at Jojen.

“You were always shit at sports.” Jojen said with a smirk, though he clearly had no idea where Bran was going with this.

“Yeah but you weren’t.” He said, handing the paper to Jojen. Jojen took it, eyes narrowing in confusion. “You were actually really good at sports, and I only played them because you loved them so much. You were the star player on this team, even if we were only eight.”

“Everybody else was eight too, Bran.” Jojen reminded him slowly, something clicking deep in his eyes. He was starting to get it.

“Yeah, but you were better than them. If you’d kept up with sports, you could be amazing.” Bran said, smiling sadly. “But you never played again after this tournament because of your seizure.”

“Bran…” Jojen said slowly, pushing the paper back towards Bran.

“It was your first one, I remember. It’s the scariest thing I’ve ever witnessed, nothing has ever scared me more.” Bran said, face paling at even the memory. “To this day, nothing scared me more than thinking of that first seizure. I thought you were going die.”

“I wasn’t going to die.” Jojen said quietly, pulling on his fingers until the joints cracked. They both winced at the noise and Bran resisted the urge to grab Jojen’s hands.

“I didn’t know that when I was eight.” Bran said shaking his head. “And it got me all worked up. Every time you had a seizure, I was like _what if he dies, what if he dies, what if he dies._ As they got fewer as we got older, it got worse. Every time you had one it was a surprise to me now and it would be twice as scary.”

There were tears in Jojen’s eyes now and Bran yanked the next piece of paper from his pocket. “This is your prescription for your medicine. Your father gave my father a copy of it so my dad could have our own bottle of it because you spent so much time at our house. He was afraid you’d lose it.”

Jojen nodded, he remembered.

“I still pick up new bottles when they unused ones at my house expire.” Bran admitted in a rush, face growing red. He watch as Jojen’s eyes widened and he shook his head.

“You—Bran! I haven’t had seizure in almost six years!” Jojen cried. “You shouldn’t be making your father pay for that!”

“I pay for it.” Bran shook his head. “And I know the last time you had a seizure. I remember it- Meera’s twenty second birthday. I remember every seizure, because they all scared the crap out of me even though I knew how slim the chances were of you dying.”

Jojen’s mouth dropped open. “Bran, this medicine is so expensive. You shouldn’t’ve have been spending so much money on it!”

“What if you needed it?” Bran asked, shaking his head again. Jojen didn’t get it. “What if you needed it and I didn’t have any for you? What then?”

“That’s all well and good at your house Bran.” Jojen laughed. “But you were wasting your money for the amount of time we spent there. What, did you carry it around with us all the time?”

Bran’s face just went bright red and he started fishing through his pocket for the next piece of paper. Suddenly Jojen’s hands were on top of his, stopping him.

“Bran. Did you carry that medicine around with you all the time?” Jojen asked, eyes burning into Bran’s. Bran felt his breathing get caught in his throat.

“Please just let me keep going. I have to keep going.” Bran said, body shaking. A flicker of something familiar rushed through Jojen’s eyes but nodded without saying anything.

 

_They say the story’s ending but I think it’s time we stopped pretending.  
No, can’t let you turn the page._

 

Bran handed Jojen the small laminated bracelet and watched Jojen’s face darken. “Why this?”

“Because it’s part of our story, too.” Bran reminded him. “A darker part, but still part. Who knows, we may never have gotten together if this hadn’t happened.”

“Don’t-” Jojen started but Bran waved him off.

“Don’t make my illness about a relationship. I know, you’ve told me a million times. I was just saying.” Bran smirked. “You think you didn’t do anything to help that day, I know you still think that. But you’re the only person who really helped me. You put me back together when I fell apart, you never grew tired helping and were always there when I needed you.”

“But you were also walking on thin ice around me, or so you acted.” Bran continued, gazing at Jojen’s wall. “You treated me like a small delicate flower that needed protecting from everything not entirely happy. It was so fucking irritating Jojen, I swear almost murdered you a hundred times that first year of us dating.”

Jojen blinked, tears glistening his eyes.

“But after that first fight, the stupid blowjob fight, things got better.” Bran nodded, smiling. “You stopped guarding me from your feelings and we started really dating. It’s weird… we spent so long thinking we weren’t dating when we basically were but when we started officially dating we weren’t really dating for a long time.”

“We’ve always been complicated.” Jojen said slowly, blinking back his tears. Bran smiled again while reaching for his pocket.

“Nah, we weren’t complicated. We were just so simple that we made it complicated because we thought it was supposed to be.”

_Does your heart remember when we used to say forever? Don’t let go.  
Don’t throw it all away_

 

Bran pulled out the last two pieces of paper, images printed off the Internet and laid them out of the bed. Jojen leaned closer, tilting his head.

“This,” Bran pointed to the first image “was the apartment we going to buy two years ago. Remember when we wanted to move out right after graduation and start a life away from the prying eyes of our families and be a real couple?”

“I remember your mother basically forbidding it without saying she forbade it.” Jojen replied, huffing out a slight laugh. “She’s always been protective of you.”

“If it was anybody besides you, she would’ve straight up forbade it.” Bran pointed out. “She trusts you more than anybody any of the people my siblings have ever dated. She thinks you’re a Godsend compared to Theon Greyjoy.”

Jojen laughed, a real laugh that made Bran’s heart soar. He smiled and glanced back down towards the paper. “There were two bedrooms in the apartment. I remember when Arya asked if we planned on having a lot of guests coming over. When I asked her what the hell she was talking about, she looked about as confused as I felt.”

Jojen was grinning at the memory. “She never let us live down the fact that we were going to buy an apartment with a separate bedroom for both of us. I hadn’t even thought about the fact that  most couples share a bedroom when they live together.”

Bran could hear Arya’s words ringing in his ears. _You and Jojen? What could you possibly need separate bedrooms for?_ “Yeah, and we kinda figured that we weren’t mature enough to live on our own yet.”

Jojen nodded, still smiling. “Also the fact that everything in the bloody apartment was white. We were delusional to think we’d be able to keep it clean.”

Bran nodded in agreement and pointed at the next picture. “This was the puppy we were going to buy to keep Summer company.”

“Raven.” Jojen said, nodding with a small smile on his face. “I’ve always loved Border collies.”

“Yeah.” Bran said, smiling too. “And then my mom said that we had enough dogs in the house, even though Jon and Robb and Sansa had already moved out. Go figure.”

Jojen was smirking, Bran could tell without turning around. He could tell things about Jojen that he didn’t need words or images to explain.

_Don’t say my words are just too late_

Bran turned to face Jojen, inching closer, eyes wide. _please work, please work, please work._ “Jojen Reed. I think that you should know… there’s a box under my bed that these things came from. It’s so full sometimes I can’t even close it properly.”

Jojen raised a brow, clearly not see where Bran was going with this either.

“I started it when I was ten and my mom took that picture off the fridge and I wanted to keep it.” Bran took a deep breath, ready to spill his guts out now. There was no going back. “It’s covered in glitter and coloured on with marker. It says stupid shit like ‘best friends forever’ but it’s filled with memories from everything we’ve done that felt important to me.”

Jojen’s eyes were wide and his mouth had dropped open slightly so Bran just kept going. “I couldn’t really bring the box up here with me so I just brought some of the most important things with me. But there’s my lacrosse jersey from ninth grade when I tried playing sports again, and everybody except for you made fun of me. You’re the only person who stood by me.

“There’s the one sneaker I have left, the other one lodged up in the gutter of the Opera House downtown. I remember you climbed up there to try to get it out and Tommen Baratheon was laughing his ass while Myrcella was screaming at you to be careful the whole time. And the shoe was too far down for you reach. Then you gave me a piggyback all the way home because you didn’t want to step on broken glass or something.

"There’s the recipe from the meal my family got at Westingtons, the first time you were working there. It was your first day on the job and I remember you were so damn nervous, you kept shaking and you messed up everybody’s order except for mine. And later that night you told me that you didn’t even write down my order, because you knew it by heart.”

Bran breathed out heavily, brain swimming a little bit from the lack of oxygen. Jojen was still just staring at him, shaking his head slightly.

“You remember all those things?” Jojen finally asked, biting his lip.

“I remember everything I can remember.” Bran said, wincing at his shit wording but Jojen didn’t seem to mind. A small smile had slid across his face. “I remember all the good things and all the bad things.”

Bran looked down at this hands. “I remember them because they’re what makes us _us._ And I love us. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

 

_I don’t wanna be left behind, I’ve been so blind to all that I have broken._

_Can we put this back together?_

Bran jerked his gaze back up and was shocked by how long Jojen’s face was. He could see the traces of tears clinging to his lashes. When had Jojen gotten so close? Why was he so close?

“I’ve always loved you.” Jojen was saying. _Oh, Jojen was talking._ “That was never the question or the probably. Neither was you loving me. I knew that too.”

Bran blinked. “Well, if you knew then…”

Jojen laughed, reaching to rest his hands over Bran’s. “I knew you loved me. I didn’t need to be told that. I didn’t need to hear it or see it. I needed to see that believed in our relationship. I needed to see you fight to see if you thought it was worth fighting for.”

“Why?” Bran asked, confused, wishing that Jojen would just close the gap between them but knowing that they needed to talk about this. “If you knew that I loved you, wouldn’t you know that I thought the relationship was worth fighting for?”

Jojen shrugged. “It felt like you were too quick to think I was going to break up with you. It was as though you’d been waiting for it, expecting it to happen.”

Bran sighed, reaching out to cup Jojen’s cheek. “I’m not the best with words, and I’m worse with feelings. I had no idea what to do when you said to fight for you, and I still sort of have no idea what to do. I don’t even know if this worked or what I did to make it work.”

“It worked.” Jojen smiled, brushing their noses together. “You had me at _what if you needed it._ ”

And then finally, finally, Jojen let their lips touch.

 

_No more empty promises, they don’t exist._

_Just me out in the open._

The strongest sense of happiness Bran had ever experienced exploded inside of him, and he clutched harder to Jojen…. clutched harder to his boyfriend. His heart soared more at the words and he fell backwards onto Jojen’s bed, pulling him down with him.

Jojen covered Bran’s body completely, pressing against him and letting his hands run down the younger boy’s sides. It wasn’t rushed and it was frantic, the way it sometimes was when they’d kissed on this bed in the past. Their lips moved together seamlessly, brushing together as though made for it.

They were mad for it, Bran thought mindlessly. They were made for each other’s lips. He would never have been able to kiss another person if he’d have lost Jojen. Rather die alone than pretend to love another when his was gone.

Jojen’s hands were gripping Bran’s sides as though afraid he would disappear. It hit Bran now that he didn’t know where they stood in their relationship. Before all this, Jojen had been planning to propose. Did he still want that now?

Bran must have stopped kissing back because Jojen pulled away and looked at him in confusion. Bran set him a reassuring smile, running his hands through Jojen’s hair and deciding what to do. He stood up and made to move for Jojen’s dresser.

 

_I know this will take time. Can we put the past behind?  
Tonight I wanna fight for you._

“What are you doing?” Jojen asked him from the bed but Bran just shook his head and didn’t turn around. Jojen was avoid enough in his hiding place when Bran opened the very first drawer, dug under a couple of T-shirts and found it.

The small sliver ring that he should have been wearing the past couple of weeks, not hiding under his pillow. And certainly not back in Jojen’s procession. He turned around and smiled, holding it up sheepishly.

“Bran, I don’t know….” Jojen said slowly and the doubt on Jojen’s face sent a small wave of hurt through Bran.

“I get it,” Bran walked over, standing above Jojen. “The last time you got hurt. You’re afraid to try again.”

Jojen nodded slowly, eyes guarding more tears. Bran smiled and dropped himself down onto one knee. Jojen’s eyes flew open, the tears disappearing and his cheeks heated up.

“So I don’t expect you to.” Bran held the ring out and willed everything to work properly. “Jojen Reed, I love you. I’ve loved you my whole life and I want to spend everything single minute with you for the rest of it. I can be an idiot who’s pretty bad with my words, and you’re a total neat freak that gets on my nerves and wakes up way too early in the morning, but there’s nobody I’d rather be with. Will you marry me?”

Tears had filled Jojen’s eyes again and he was staring at Bran as though seeing him for the first time ever. Slowly though, he nodded before clearing his throat and speaking in that voice Bran loved so much. “Yes. Course I’ll bloody marry you, Bran flakes.”

Bran’s face broke into a face splitting grin and he jumped upwards. Forgetting all about the ring, letting it drop down to the ground in fact, he pushed both hands into Jojen’s hair and forced him down against the bed. They remained like that for a long time- Bran didn’t know how long, it could have years. Bran just laying on Jojen’s chest, head buried into the crock of his neck, listening to his heartbeat. Suddenly he lifted his head up and shot Jojen a quick smirk.

“So what are you doing tonight, fiancée?” He asked, raising his brow. A smile tugged at Jojen’s lips as he pushed Bran backwards against the bed. Jojen was straddling him in no time, pressing quick kisses all along Bran’s neck and jawline. Bran let his hands slide down to grab at Jojen’s hips, letting them slide upwards underneath to feel the warm skin there. Jojen hummed and pulled away slightly, so that their foreheads were still touching but far enough that they could look into each other’s eyes.

“You.”

_Just give one last chance to make it right_


End file.
